one week pre-op and counting!!

Hi Jennifer I am booked to have my sleeve surgery on the 14th February (a great date to remember). I choose the sleeve for the same reasons you did as I didnt want the restrictions of not being able to eat red meat and breads etc. My problem is volume as I have a really large appetite. I am now 106kg (down 2kg) since started Optifast. Am a little nervous about my surgery as I have 2 small children to come home to. What can I expect as far as my recovery is concerned. Also I have some really old friends coming over from Canada a month after my surgery. Will I be able to enjoy a glass of wine with them??? Anyway wish me luck. Regards Kim

Hi Kim, Sorry I have not checked my emails for awhile. How are you after your surgery? I hope you are going ok with the big changes. I am now 91.3 down 28.2 kgs since the op. That is really great and I look and feel really well....but and there is a but. I have issues with gas still, not as much as in the start, but I do burp alot after I eat and drink. Also I don't get enough protein each day, I really struggle with this and my hair has started to fall out because of this. Not noticeable to anyone but me But it is coming out alot in the shower. I also miss eating normally... and having to put alot more effort in deciding what to cook for dinner as I eat different meals most of the time still. Any way my doctor keeps telling me at the 6 month period everything seems to magically go back to normal and all of my side effects should go away. I look forward to that time and hope they do and I am not an exception as I really just want to enjoy my weightloss and not feel sorry for myself for maybe making a rash decision. I will try and keep in touch with you to see how your journey goes. Good luck Jenny

Hi Jenny I'm feeling really great after my surgery. Its only been a week but I do feel good. So far so good..... I am managing to eat pretty much everything as long as its pureed or mashed and havent had any problems with food coming back up. I too am suffering with gas as I burp alot after eating and drinking. I thought maybe this was because I was eating and drinking too fast. I am trying to slow down the process to see if this makes things any better. One of the nurses at the hospital where I had my operation also had the sleeve done about 5 months ago and she had lost 35kg. She also suffered with hair loss and warned me to try and make sure I eat enough protein. So thats what I'm trying to do. I'm also going to try my first glass of wine next weekend as my doctor said I should wait about a week (so I'm going to wait 2 weeks) and my first glass I would imagine will be heaven (at least I hope so). I know its early days for me yet but I can only hope that my journey continues on this smoothly. So far my weight loss is 10kg (I've lost 4kg in a week since the surgery). I will try and keep you posted on my progress. Cheers Kim

Hi Kannie, some very xciting times ahead for you, yes get that fire going and burn those fat clothes You absolutely 100% will not need them.Both the band and the sleeve cannot fail unless you really push the boundaires. As far as the choice is concerned, I asked the surgeon what I should have and his advice was to go with your gut feeling. My gut feeling said the sleeve and although its early days, I can tell you that at only 10 days post op , people are dropping their jaws at the change in me.9kgs now and not a hunger pang in the world. Not an interest in food at all. That is such an unreal feeling and that makes the whole process so easy.Im not in any discomfort and completely unaware of the surgery. My surgeon gave me some photos that he took during surgery and wow what a sight. That piece of stomach just pulled out thru a weeny slit in my abdomen. I am now just slowly introducing new food to my diet. We seem to have different rules here about what to do and when. Im taking it slowly and dont feel at all deprived.Ive taken to making homemade soup and thats a new one for me. I am so looking forward to summer , a whole new worlds awaits our slimmer bodies. Life is great and the surgeon is next in line to god. He has given me back my life. anne

Hi there Anne, Today is day two of my pre-op Optifast diet. I must admit, yesterday was hard, but not because I was hungry, but because I missed eating. I seemed to be visiting the toilet every five minutes, after drinking so much water. I do usually struggle drinking 2litres of water, but managed to get it all in yesterday. Hopefully the frequency of bathroom visits will settle down once my body is used to all that fluid. I would have killed to eat dinner with the family last night, but chose to have a nice hot bath while they served their own dinner up. I could not trust myself with the smell of that yummy food. I could still smell it, but it was easier to smell it from afar! I found I was cranky, and had a bit of a headache before bed. I was keen to go to bed at 5.30pm to avoid wanting to eat something, but didn't. After my bath, I decided to have some steamed veges with pepper, I tell you steamed veges never tasted so good! Anyway, enough about me, how is your weight loss journey going Anne? There are not too many people in Australia using this forum is there? I thought it would be packed. Anyway, I am late for my optifast coffee shake, and have a little pang of hunger happening. See you, Kannie

Hi kannie, we have all been where you are at. Day 1 on thre optifat stuff was abit of a shock to the system and I thought , how the hell am I going to survive 2 weeks on liquid. I woke up with a headach on day 2 so I made myself a cup of coffee as thought it might be the caffeine withdrawal. We are not supposed to have anything other than the meal replacements and steamed veggies.But for me it was a means of survival. It did the trick. The headaches are also caused by the toxins I think so unfortunately its more water.Drik drink drink. Its all for the best and most certainly helps the op itself.I didnt use optifast, it was a different brand. On of the flavours was vanilla so I started adding instant coffee to that and that fixed my coffee craving first thing in the morning.Once I got into the routine , I found the 2 weeks passed without too much trouble. Yes you do have to remove yourself from temptation at times cos you are human afterall but just remember this is your health on the line. Its well worth the sacrfice.Your hunger will be a thing of the past so welcome to our world. Are you having a sleeve or a band and why?? anne

Hi Anne, Yeah, I too need coffee, and the Optifast shakes I bought are coffee flavoured, I might just add some extra coffee to them to get the caffeine fix. I am sure they wouldn't have real coffee in them. I wish w could have them hot as it would really feel like coffee then. My dietician told me I can still drink tea/coffee, just without milk or sugar, blah! I would rather give it up I think, although this might change after a couple of more days without coffee. I also have this really weird taste in my mouth after having the shakes or the optifast bar. (Which I have for lunch) I fix it by cleaning my teeth a zillion times a day, if nothing else I will have white teeth! I struggled with my water today tho, so I must focus on that tomorrow. I am having the lapband. I chose this as it seemed to be the least dangerous, and also effective in reducing weight. I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to surgery, or permanent changes, so the lapband seemed the obvious choice for me. I am 40kg overweight, and have tried every diet imaginable, and have exercised almost daily with little or no results. I also have an underactive thyroid, which is controlled by medication, but I still cannot manage to lose any weight. It feels like I am just going to keep expanding, no matter what I do, so that's whenI decided to look into the lapband procedure. What made you decide to have the sleeve instead of the band? Kannie

I had a coffee with milk and 1tsp sugar every morning and that kept me on the straight and narrow. Yes we were also told that we were not allowed the milk and sugar but after talking to others , they had broken the rules far worse than abit of milk and sugar.The yukky mouth is "proof" that you are burning ketones so its normal. Just brush your teeth regularly and you will be fine.Did you get ALL one flavour for your 2 weeks on optifast? That would be abit tough. I had vanilla, cafe latte, honeycomb, chicken soup, strawberry and chocolate. A different brand to yours but still the same result. The surgeon provided it. It was called Dr McCleods and that is an Australian compnay but I believe the product is only available thru surgeons.Gosh , why did I choose the sleeve......probably as many reasons as why you chose the band. I did not wnat to have to go back for fills and pay more money, there were a couple of cases of infections with the bands, some patients were still very hungry even after fills and were gaining weight,lapbanders complained of food getting stuck and that doenst happen with the sleeve, I travel alot and didnt want the worry of getting the band attended to overseas,the sleeve procedure removes the hormone that tells us we are hungry........phew thats alot of info isnt it? Its a personal thing and you have to be comfortable with whatever you choose. As far as pain during or after surgery is concerned, what pain? I only had parecetomol for 2 days in hospital and nothing when I went home. They gave me more parecetomol but I didnt need it.I was back at work ater a week.You will find that the water is vital otheriwse you might end up bunged up.. Why would you want to change the band down the track. I didnt go into this thinking it was something that I might want to reverse.This is a permanent solution to an ongoing problem.My surgeon told me to go with my gut feeling and my gut said "sleeve" I considered the band but its ongoing maintenance was not what I wanted.

Hi girls, Well today is Wednesday, and I had my surgery on Monday. It went well, but they did find a Hiatus Hernia, and so had to fix that first. After surgery I had terrible shoulder and chest pain from the gas, which only subsided this morning. Hence, not much sleep on Monday night. I feel good today, and am concentrating on sipping my fluids. Wound pain is minimal, which is good. Feeling quite tired, but excited about my new journey. Will keep you posted. Kannie

Hi, I was wondering where you are and who is your surgeon, I see you have decided on the lapband. sorry I am new to the forum and am just trying to get all info together so I am not confusing people, hope you don't mind all the questions